November View

Here’s a photo from earlier today… finally we had some light to work with – a brilliant  November day with record-breaking temperatures.

I’ve passed this abandoned shed about a thousand times, always looking for just the right angle and light. Finally, I had some time to go over and have a closer look at a time when the lighting might just be ideal – confirmed with The Photographer’s Ephemeris, no less. Originally, it was the two garage doors out front that attracted my attention, but when I went around back, the November sun was creating this startling mosaic of shadow and light, peeling paint and corrugated sheeting. Fantastic. I had to work quickly as the shadows were disappearing with the sun moving around this side. I managed about 6 set-ups and 4 or 5 really usable photographs.

To my normal way of thinking, this photo should not work, after all, the tree is is a barrier blocking the view, disrupting the base pattern! Yet, there’s something about it I’m still trying to figure out that makes this such a compelling photographer for me. I love the pattern of shadows and light; the empty window adds another dimension with the seemingly dancing tree limbs adding movement.

Perhaps it’s the linear patterns and decay of the manufactured  contrasting with the more recent and, ultimately, more enduring organic patterns of nature represented by the tree. Yet, the tree, too, is in a state of decline with autumn having stripped its leaves. I’ll look forward to printing this, for sure.